“Gotcha.”  Veronica laughed and patted Alan’s chest. “I didn’t think it was possible to be more sickening than Drake, but I will take your word for it.”  Veronica gazed into her lover’s eyes and watched a thin red ring appear around his brown irises. “Alan?”  She inquired and moved her hair to one side, leaving her neck close enough for him to feed.

Impressed that Veronica could anticipate his needs, Alan felt a little tingle of bonding with the little blood bunny.  Plunging his fangs into her thin flesh where her neck and shoulder met, Alan drew enough of the fragrant plasma from the four holes to douse the flames that had started to rise in this throat.  When his partner let out an approving mewl, Alan swirled his tongue across the holes one at a time until the flow stopped. “Veronica, I could listen to you do that non-stop.”

“Two peas in a pod, dear.”  Veronica added and kissed Alan’s chin lightly. “I could enjoy you doing it almost non-stop.”  She lightly poked his arm, “Keep going with Viktoria.”

Wiping the small excess of blood from his lips and licking his finger clean, Alan resumed where he left off. “Completing this lovely specimen of vampirism, She also had a goddess complex.”  He paused, “Yeah, she wanted to be worshiped and called goddess.”  Visions of his creator flashed in his eyes and the vampire jolted with surprise. “I can’t believe I can see her this clear even now.”  Alan rolled his eyes and forced himself to purge his beastly creator's face from his vision. “I guess I got lucky in the fact she wanted worshipers by the time she caught me on the bench.  She dragged me kicking and screaming to this wet and musty cave.  I guess you could call it an actual lair.”  Curling his lip in disgust, Alan pushed on. “Her brood, all sat there like hungry birds waiting for a meal.”  Scratching at his chest from the memory, Alan added, “Using me as nothing more than a chew toy, she taught them how to create and feed.  I even recall her telling them that it was her divine grace that allowed them the gift of afterlife.”

Disturbed by the details of the ongoing story, Veronica unwrapped herself from around Alan’s waist and spread out across his lap and took his hand into hers. “I guess I have been fortunate to know the vampires I have.”  She pressed one of his knuckles to her lips lightly. “I have a pretty good picture of what happened.  I take it she created lots of vampires to worship her, a coven.”  She shrugged, “I have heard old stories about vampire covens from Sylvie.  She said they were more common when she was younger.”

“Yes and no, my dear.”  Alan gently brought Veronica’s hand to his own lips, “My scant hundred years have made it where I think it was more or less a transition to how things are today.  The more modern that your lovely human counterparts got, the harder it must have been to maintain huge groups.”  He shrugged. “All the same, Viktoria didn’t create for a coven, she created for a congregation.”  He paused and rubbed his temples, “She didn’t care who or what was going on out there in the real world.”  Alan waved his hand towards the outside. “Dozens of people were being killed every night.  She’d have living fountains that we were forced to drink from, people strung up over large basins.”  He watched Veronica turn away from him. “Dearest, it wasn’t anything that I wanted to do.  She had complete command and we didn’t know there was another way to survive.  We were barbaric.”

Slowly turning to look into Alan’s gentle brown eyes, Veronica nodded and wiped a few tears from her eyes. “How-how did it go unnoticed in the twenties?  I mean the police should have had reports all the time.”

“The real answer is, that it didn’t go unnoticed.  Viktoria didn’t care either, a goddess will not be questioned by some lowly peon from the street, right?”  Alan waited for Veronica to nod, “So, trust me when I say that it came to light.  The others just didn’t know how to handle a coven of that size.”  He held up a finger, “Viktoria didn’t factor in The Raven.”

“So Vivienne stopped her?”  Veronica inquired and thought about the piercing blue eyes of her former mistress. “I knew her reputation from Franco when I first came to him.”

Alan nodded and half smiled, “Stopped is an understatement.”  Amused by the grin on Veronica’s face, he raised one eyebrow. “Is she really that nice?  All I see are the devil blue eyes of hate.”  Figuring that he’d said all that was necessary about his creator, Alan lingered on the fear and dread of The Raven’s eyes a touch longer. “Short story, most of the coven was destroyed that night.  I knew when Viktoria died because my will became my own.  Her commands and servitude ended immediately.”

“You didn’t see Vivienne kill them?”  Veronica quickly asked.

Hearing the panicked screams of his brethren echoing in his head, Alan froze in place. “I-I, no.  I didn’t see her do anything.”  Alan’s lips quivered with unnerving fear, “..but..but, I did see her.  The Angel of Death.  I sw-swear mig-ght have even had a wicked black halo and matching wings.”  Cobalt pitiless eyes bore into Alan once more. “I-I-S-She walked past me without so much as a glance, blood dripping from her as though the cave had rained it down and blessed her coming.”

Leaning up from her comfortable position, Veronica wrapped herself tightly around Alan’s trembling form and warmly kissed his neck. “It’s alright, it’s over.  A memory.”  Veronica felt Alan slowly return to normal before easing her hug. “I wish I had a more compelling story for you.”  She laughed and took his hand into her own. “You asked why I’m not a vampire?”

“Yes.”  Alan humbly asked as his normal personality returned. “It’s lovely that you and your bunny sisters all allow us to feed from you, but it seems almost too symbiotic.”

Patting Alan’s hand lightly, Veronica took a breath and looked into his easy brown eyes. “Picture yourself not understanding why your body goes into euphoria after one of you lovely vampires do their thing.  Imagine still meeting others that do the same thing you do.”  She paused, “It is both frightening and exciting in the beginning.”  Veronica squeezed Alan’s hand, “Along the way you get into a rhythm and develop almost a ruleset for how you and your vampire master or mistress will be.”  Veronica cupped Alan’s cheeks, “Franco was a great master, Sylvie a lovely mistress.  Vivienne..”  Veronica stopped when Alan tensed up again, “..Never fed from us.  She just put us in charge of the others who came to the manor.”  Veronica winked and kissed Alan’s nose. “It is kind of an unwritten rule that we don’t ask.  You and your kind make the offer.”  Veronica laughed. “Then we decide if we want to.”  She poked at Alan’s bare chest. “It still has to come from the vampire, my dear.  Given how many vampires get turned, I think it’s for the best that one should offer..I mean it is difficult to do something so hard when your own past was so tragic.  Right?”

Running his finger under the dark circles that formed under Veronica’s eyes, Alan smiled. “You look sleepy, dearest.  I can get up and let you rest.”  He paused, “I have plenty to consider when I see your mistress this evening.”

“Don’t you dare leave.”  Veronica muttered and yawned at the same time. “I like it here, if you don’t mind.”  Shutting her eyes for a brief moment, Veronica peeked open one eye, “I don’t have to wear a mask or anything do I?  I would prefer to wake up with my mind as my own.”  She smiled.

Relieved to finally laugh once more, Alan let the few chuckles subside before answering. “I am in control.  You are perfectly safe here for the day.  Sleep well.”  He leaned over and gave her a final quick kiss on the cheek before he watched Veronica drift off.